[5] Universa and Empirica followed the Black swan theory which was about unexpected extreme events that have significant impact on the world and the financial markets.

[4][7][8] Universa purchased puts related to the S&P 500 Index and financial companies such as Goldman Sachs and American International Group which the firm sold for a significant profit after the prices fell.

[6] On March 1, 2014, Universa moved its headquarters from Santa Monica, California to Miami, Florida to take advantage of the city's business and tax policies.

[12][13] In 2018, The Wall Street Journal reported that "a strategy consisting of just a 3.3% position in Universa with the rest invested passively in the S&P 500 index had a compound annual return of 12.3% in the 10 years through February (2018), far better than the S&P 500 itself" (and portfolios with "more traditional hedges").

[14] In March 2020, Universa, in a letter to investors, estimated it had a return of 3,612% on invested capital in its strategy due to effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.